Byrnes student designs Nikes to celebrate overcoming cancer

When Sam Brown walks into Byrnes High School to begin his freshman year, the red, black and gold shoes he'll be wearing will represent more than just trendy, back-to-school fashion.

By Zach Foxzach.fox@shj.com

When Sam Brown walks into Byrnes High School to begin his freshman year, the red, black and gold shoes he'll be wearing will represent more than just trendy, back-to-school fashion.The custom-designed shoes were a part of the 14-year-old's Make-A-Wish trip in July. On the back of his left shoe is the date he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia — June 8, 2010 — and on the back of his right shoe is the date of his last chemotherapy treatment – Oct. 5, 2013.

Sam was a healthy child. He and Jake, his identical twin brother, played youth football for three years. Toward the end of Sam's fourth-grade year, he was constantly tired and got winded easily. He was barely able to play with his brother. Sam's parents, Ashland and Kent, took him to get tested. After blood work was taken, the results indicated Sam had lymphoblastic leukemia. His family was told he would be moved to a pediatric oncology unit.“That's when they told me I had leukemia,” Sam said.More specifically, Sam was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood that escalates rapidly if it isn't treated soon after diagnosis. ALL, as it's known, is the most common form of pediatric cancer, affecting platelets and blood cells. Symptoms include fever, easy bruising or bleeding, weakness and fatigue. “I never even considered he had cancer,” Ashland said.Sam's fever would come and go, but his fatigue remained. Originally, the family suspected mononucleosis as the cause for Sam's illness, not knowing that fever was a possible cancer symptom. When Sam complained of leg pains, the family thought it was because of long walks they took to prepare for a trip to Yellowstone National Park.One weekend, Sam fell asleep on the floor beside the couch. He barely moved the entire weekend, and Ashland had to put medicine into his mouth to combat his fever.“My husband and I were just in shock,” she said.

Sam's treatment program, requiring three and a half years of chemotherapy, started the day after he was diagnosed. He would spend up to two weeks at a time in the pediatric oncology wing of Greenville Memorial Hospital.“If they didn't start treatment then, he probably would have died within the first three weeks,” Ashland said.During his first year of treatment, Sam underwent 39 blood transfusions. He lost nearly 20 pounds. His fair skin became paler because he rarely spent time outside. His hair started falling out, which he didn't really mind, as it turned out.“I actually kind of liked it,” he said, with a smile. “I didn't really have to wash it or anything.”On days Sam wasn't in the hospital, he woke up around 8 a.m. From 9 a.m. until noon, his homebound teacher, Christie Johnson — who currently serves on the School District 6 board of trustees — worked with him verbally, because the chemotherapy took away Sam's ability to write.“Then, I'd pretty much lay down all day,” Sam said.One of Sam's treatment regimens was especially difficult. Every two weeks for an eight-week period, two nurses, each with a needle over six inches long, delivered intramuscular chemotherapy drugs into his thighs. “At first, I didn't really like all the needles and blood,” he said. “But after a while, you get used to it.”Jake said Sam's reactions to some of the chemo treatments were the toughest part of watching his brother's fight.“I got worried when he'd get really sick, but I had to keep the mindset that this was what would help him get better,” he said. “I didn't really understand the process; I just knew he was supposed to get better.”The biggest reason Sam was scared after receiving his diagnosis was because he didn't understand his condition.“I was scared because I didn't know what it was,” he said. “At school, they would have fundraisers, but they never really explained what cancer was.”At one point, Sam had chemo treatments performed on his brain. He had an allergic reaction to the drugs, which led to encephalitis, or swelling in the brain. He couldn't eat, drink, walk or talk.There were times when Sam regained those functions, and he would communicate with family and doctors. “He would yell 'Why aren't you taking care of me?'” Ashland said. “We didn't really know what was happening.”Sam said he didn't remember most of what happened during his bout with encephalitis.Ashland said that thankfully, a doctor at the hospital had seen a similar incident before, where a chemo treatment caused severe swelling in the brain. Sam was then sent to Duke University where he received the remainder of chemo treatments on his brain.

From October, when Sam's chemo treatments ended, until February, he still had little energy. His growth stopped because of the chemo treatments, but in January, he started growing about an inch per month. He developed stretch marks on his back because his body wasn't prepared for his rapid growth.“I had to get rid of a lot of my pants, so that was annoying,” he said. “But it feels better to not get blood drawn all the time or worry about getting sick.”On the day of his final treatment, Sam received a beaded necklace, called the “beads of courage.” Each bead on the string represents a medical procedure — from major chemotherapy sessions to shots he was given — that Sam endured along his path to recovery. When laid out straight, the necklace is 23 feet long.His final bead was a purple-shaped heart, symbolizing a win in his battle against pediatric cancer.

Last summer, representatives from the Make-A-Wish Foundation visited Sam and his family. He was given a form and asked to fill out his favorite foods, movies and interests. Sam, who refers to himself as a “sneakerhead,” wanted to do something different for his Make-A-Wish.“A lot of people do cruises or trips to Hawaii or things like that, but I talked with my parents and they told me to do something that I couldn't buy,” Sam said. “I've always liked Nike and been a fan of shoe culture, and I wanted to go there and meet the designers.”On a Sunday late last month, Sam and his family were flown to Nike's headquarters in Oregon to fulfill Sam's wish. On the first day of the trip, he visited the Nike store in Portland to design a custom pair of shoes. He created a black-and-red themed design with a golden swoosh, because much like how pink ribbons symbolize the fight against breast cancer, gold ribbons represent pediatric cancer. During his hospital stays, Sam always wore his Nikes instead of hospital shoes, which are easier to remove. “It was almost his connection to being a normal kid,” Ashland said. “He was insistent on wearing those shoes.”

Sam and Jake start high school at Byrnes on Monday. Sam will spend half of each day at the University of South Carolina Upstate as part of the school's Scholars Academy.“I'm excited because it'll be the first school year since fourth grade he'll have energy,” Jake said. “He'll be back to normal.”The twin brothers, both inspired by Sam's journey, decided they want to become pediatric oncologists.“Originally, I didn't know what I wanted to do,” Sam said. “They told me it was worth all of the work they put in. I want to give back after what they did for me.”Jake enjoyed talking to doctors and other patients during his brother's hospital stays, but never enjoyed his reason for being there. He said he would much rather work to help children like his brother instead of spending his days in an office.“It would be cool to help kids and save lives,” he said.Ashland said she was proud of her son for overcoming cancer, adding that it gave the entire Brown family a totally different outlook on life.“I never want any child to go through what he went through,” she said, fighting to hold back tears. “I'm very thankful he's here. The kids get annoyed when I talk about it and cry, but I don't know if it'll ever stop.”Sam said he hopes to encourage other children and teens with cancer and to serve as a symbol that the disease is beatable.“It's hard to go through, but when you finish, you're really relieved,” he said. “You learn a lot and have a lot of experiences you couldn't have otherwise. It really changes your whole outlook on life.”

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